Latest Badminton News and Articles

Saina Nehwal slams Commonwealth Games organizers preparations she regretted that the country was not yet ready to host such a big sport tournament like Commonwealth Games.

India’s badminton star Saina Nehwal is one of the brand ambassadors of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) concerns about the completion of stadiums with less than a month to go for the event.

“Looking at the stadiums and looking at the progress, I don’t really think we are capable of holding such big tournaments because you know, I have seen many Games like the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (in 2006) and Olympic Games in Beijing (in 2008). Compared to that its not upto the mark,” Saina told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award winner Saina Nehwal thought that everything would be ready before the Games’ opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games on October 3.

Saina Nehwal comment on the lack of preparation in Commonwealth Games was as surpries to everyone as she is one of the six sportspersons chosen as the Games’ brand ambassadors.

Former women world number one shuttler Zhou Mi of Hong Kong has been suspended for two years for failing a drug test, World badminton Federation said on Saturday.

During one of BWF's out-of-competition testing programme, Zhou tested positive for Clenbuterol, a Class 1 Anabolic Agent on the WADA Prohibited List of substances, BWF said in a release.

After that a BWF doping hearing conducted in Copenhagen on August 23 decided "that a period of two years ineligibility is imposed upon Zhou Mi for the first violation of the BWF Anti-doping Regulations.

The period of ineligibility commences from the date of the provisional suspension, 4 August 2010."

"BWF is fortunate that this is the first case that the BWF has ruled on for a number of years. The case sends a strong message to elite athletes in the sport who need to be aware of Prohibited Substances and the consequences of taking these either deliberately or inadvertently," said Thomas Lund, BWF COO.

Zhou Mi acknowledged that she had taken some common over-the-counter medication but was unaware whether or not it had contained any prohibited substance.

"The BWF together with WADA conduct both out-of competition and in-competition testing on a regular basis and athletes need to be aware that they are ultimately responsible for everything they ingest whether it is taken deliberately or inadvertently," Lund added.

"And this case shows that for a first offence, the punishment is severe." The sanction means that Zhou Mi cannot participate in any badminton tournament at the international, national and local level for a period of two years.

Chen Jin, the man who has lived for years in the shadow of the greatest player of all time, suddenly emerged into the spotlight to become a surprise World champion on Sunday.

The third-seeded Chinese player did that with a convincing 21-13, 21-15 win over Taufik Hidayat, the gifted but unpredictable former World and Olympic champion from Indonesia.

Chen thus kept his promise to himself that he would go one better than last year, when he finished runner-up to Lin Dan, the compatriot who had become the first player to win a singles title three times in a row.

WORLD number one pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong made it a lovely day in Paris for Malaysia when they stormed into the country’s first men’s doubles final in 13 years at the World Championships in Pierre de Coubertin Stadium yesterday.

The duo continued to show their strong determination and ambition to be the first world champion when they clawed back from 10-16 in the second game to beat China’s Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen 21-14, 21-18 in 40 minutes.

Today, they will take on the winner of the other semi-final match between two previous world champions – Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China and Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.

It was the duo’s first final appearance in three outings after their failure to live up to expectations in the Kuala Lumpur in 2007 and Hyderabad last year.

Boon Heong was happy with the win but vowed to keep his feet firmly on the ground.